


puppy dog eyes

by sinspiration



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (keith loves shiro just as much), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Human Keith (Voltron), M/M, SECRETLY a werewolf shiro, SO MUCH you guys, Shiro loves Keith so much, Werewolf Shiro (Voltron), mentions of Keith's tragic past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinspiration/pseuds/sinspiration
Summary: “I wanted to see you too,” Shiro says. Before quickly adding, “But it’s not your fault! Things come up. It’s just, ah, you know. That time of the month.”“You know I don’t care,” Keith says, not for the first time. “It’s work. Work’s like that.”“Yeah.” The exhale is laced with frustration. “I just…”“Hm?”“Nothing, just… hopefully um, hopefully soon,” Shiro says. “I won’t have to do this anymore.”Keith perks up. That’s not what he expected to hear. Shiro’s been going away for monthly work conferences for the whole two years Keith has known him. “Wait, really?”“Hopefully,” Shiro says again.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 68
Kudos: 577





	puppy dog eyes

**Author's Note:**

> For @akane_the_fox on twitter.
> 
> I was a pitch hitter for sheithlentines and got this prompt that was EXACTLY MY JAM. So it should come as a surprise to no one that I was excited to write for it.
> 
> Hope you like it, Penny!

One of the nice things about being a writer is that when Keith is on a roll, the world falls away. When he gets into the groove, he can bang out thousands of words in an afternoon.

The downsides to this are that sometimes the day gets away from him, and by the time he actually tears his eyes away from his computer screen, he realizes his createspace is almost empty and that it is much, much darker outside than he’d expected.

He curses and pulls his phone out of his pocket to make a call as he shoves his stuff back into his bag.

“Hi Keith,” Shiro says, sounding not at all annoyed that Keith is calling him _now._ “Book get away from you again?”

“I’m so sorry,” Keith blurts as he hurriedly leaves his createspace. “I just finally figured out where the plot was going, and I didn’t want to break my train of thought and–”

“It’s okay.” Shiro sounds too amused. It isn’t fair. Keith messed up. “I know you put your phone on silent when you work. I figured you’d contact me eventually.”

“Yeah, but… but I wanted to see you before you left.”

“Oh,” Shiro says, voice all over surprised and pleased. “You did?”

“Shiro, what--of course I did.” Keith swerves around people as he heads to the bus stop. “I… I always want to see you.”

“Oh,” Shiro says again. There is a pause, then, “Okay, well, now I’m a little sad I didn’t try to bug you.”

“You couldn’t have anyway,” Keith mumbles. “Phone on silent.”

“Yeah,” Shiro chuckles. “I know.”

Another pause as Keith keeps walking, feeling stupid all the while. “I’m really sorry.” 

“It’s okay, Keith,” Shiro assures him, just--absolving him of guilt. “It’s only for a couple days. You won’t even know I’m gone.”

_I always know when you’re gone,_ Keith doesn’t say. He’s known Shiro for two years, has been dating him for two months, and even two days of distance seems like too long. “I still wanted to see you before you left.”

“I wanted to see you too,” Shiro says. Before quickly adding, “But it’s not your fault! Things come up. It’s just, ah, you know. That time of the month.”

“You know I don’t care,” Keith says, not for the first time. “It’s work. Work’s like that.”

“Yeah.” The exhale is laced with frustration. “I just…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, just… hopefully um, hopefully soon,” Shiro says. “I won’t have to do this anymore.”

Keith perks up. That’s not what he expected to hear. Shiro’s been going away for monthly work conferences for the whole two years Keith has known him. “Wait, really?”

“Hopefully,” Shiro says again.

“Is that… is that good?” Keith asks hesitantly. “Like, promotion good, maybe? Or um… a different position or something?”

“I’ve got to do some work with communications,” Shiro says. “But I think it’ll be a good thing. I hope so.”

“They’re fucking lucky to have you,” Keith says at once. Shiro’s broken his back for his job, and Keith’s of the opinion they definitely don’t deserve him--especially with them requiring him to travel as often as he does. Keith’s honestly a little amazed that Shiro even wanted to make time for _him._ But he counts his lucky stars that Shiro does. “So it’ll be good. It’s gonna be.”

He can hear Shiro breathe out. “Thanks, Keith.”

“Of course.”

“I love you.”

It still shocks him to his core every time, but it never fails to make him beam. “I love you too.”

***

Keith gets home just after eight, still kind of mad at himself for letting time get away from him. As expected, the apartment he and Shiro share is dark, Shiro already on his way out of town. 

He grumbles to himself as he puts his stuff down and then goes to the kitchen to grab some dinner, but he has to smile at what he finds in the fridge. A container full of onigiri with a sticky note cheerfully showcasing a smile, heart, and _I love you baby, enjoy!_ written on it. Keith can’t exactly be annoyed in the face of that.

Still, it would have been better to have made it home earlier and been able to actually eat said onigiri with his boyfriend. 

He finishes his dinner and he decides to go for an evening walk, to stretch his legs a little more. Sitting all day can do a number on you, and while Keith is plenty active even with a sedentary job, it’s easy for him to get restless. He also sort of wants more distraction, before he gets ready to go to bed alone. The thought of doing so makes him feel kind of pathetic and needy, and that’s…

Stupid. It’s stupid.

It’s a nice night, at least. Pleasantly cool, with a beautiful full moon in the sky, amid lots of stars. Keith can’t help but smile a little wistfully at it. It’s the kind of night Shiro would love, happily pointing out the constellations and the phase of the moon.

Keith sighs and tucks his hands into his pockets. He misses him. It’s silly, a bit, because it’s anything but a new sensation. Keith had been in love with Shiro for months before they’d actually started dating. They did things a little backwards, kinda, being roommates first, then friends, then more. And Keith still doesn’t understand how he got so lucky.

But the relationship itself is still pretty new, and Keith’s never been _in_ a relationship before this one anyway. He doesn’t exactly know the rules. He just kind of muddles along and hopes Shiro doesn’t call him out for being a fraud.

But dwelling on things goes nowhere good. He just… does the best he can and apologizes for his mistakes and tries to like, fucking talk about his feelings like a person who knows how to Adult and, well… Shiro hasn’t dumped him yet. 

Positives.

No, _actual_ positives. Come on, Keith. You’ve worked on this.

So he takes out his phone and, through the marvel of modern engineering, manages a pretty decent picture of the full moon in all its glory. He sends it to Shiro with the caption _Thinking of you. I hope you’re having a good night. Love you._

He pockets his phone, not expecting an answer until morning. Shiro tends to just get to where he needs to be before passing out for the rest of the night. Keith certainly can’t blame him; that sort of schedule would take it out of anyone. Judging by how things have gone so far, he’ll get a call from Shiro tomorrow at like ten, voice gravelly and worn, and they’ll talk until one of them has to go. 

Now that Keith thinks of it, this will only be the second time since they’ve officially become a couple that Shiro will have gone away. But they’ve been doing their regular morning phone calls for at least a year and a half.

It’s kind of a nice realization, and it cheers him up a little on his walk home.

***

Keith wasn’t always a light sleeper, but the quirk got trained into him young. Shiro is forever apologizing about disturbing him when he gets up to go to work, but truthfully Keith likes it. He likes that he gets to wake up to kiss his boyfriend goodbye, and then maybe bury himself back underneath the covers for a while longer. He’s able to fall back asleep quickly at least. Being a light sleeper could be a lot worse.

And sometimes it’s a fucking good thing, because Keith sleeps with the bedroom door closed, and he bolts awake at hearing it creak open.

He’s alone. 

He’s alone. 

Or he should be.

The room is fucking dark but the door is open--and Keith can-- _fuck_ there’s another body in the room–

He grabs his knife out from underneath his pillow and throws himself off the bed. It’s not the first time he’s had to face someone coming to him at night.

His lips pull back in a snarl as he grabs at the lamp. He’s older and stronger and tougher and someone’s going to end up bloody tonight and it’s fucking well _not going to be him._

The light clicks on, and Keith freezes, grip on the knife faltering.

“Sh-Shiro?”

“Keith,” Shiro rumbles happily, lurching forward. “Missed you.”

Keith takes an unconscious step back. Shiro is wearing a loose pair of sweatpants and nothing else. His bare muscled chest is shiny with sweat, his eyes are slightly unfocused, and he looks--bigger, somehow. “Shiro, what–” when Shiro makes to move closer again, Keith panics. “Stay there!”

Shiro blinks, and then all of a sudden Keith is the target of a laser-focused stare. “Keith? Love, what’s wrong?”

Keith has no idea, right now. He knows he’s staring wild-eyed at Shiro’s chest because it’s--it’s hairier then Keith has ever seen it and fuck, that’s--that’s crazy, right?

But he must be silent for too long, because Shiro’s face darkens, clouds over in a way Keith has never seen before, and Keith rears back, heart in his throat–

Shiro snarls and whirls around, puffing up and blocking Keith’s path to the door.

Or… 

No…? 

It’s more like Shiro’s shielding him.

“What the fuck is going on,” Keith manages.

Shiro turns back toward him, looking proud. “Scared it away,” he says, and Keith’s not just making it up; Shiro’s voice is definitely deeper.

“Scared what away?” Keith’s voice doesn’t tremble.

“The threat.” Shiro beams at him. “Missed you, baby. Always missed you. Couldn’t stay away this time. Mine.”

“I--what?”

“Mine,” Shiro says again, voice still dripping with pride. “My mate. My good, smart Keith. Beautiful mate. Mine. Missed you.” The last two words are whined.

Keith still has no idea what’s happening. “Mate?” he asks faintly. 

“Yes,” Shiro says, his voice now a pleased growl. “Mine.”

Keith is like ninety-six percent certain this is actually Shiro somehow, because if nothing else it would be _hard_ to fake his prosthetic but it’s also that his affectations are all still there. Except-- “Explain.”

Shiro holds out his hands and honest-to-god whines while making a grabby motion.

Keith glares at him. “You don’t touch me until you tell me what’s going on.”

Shiro whines again, but he tilts his head, looking somehow pathetic. “After?”

“Maybe,” Keith gets out.

Shiro nods, squaring his shoulders, and straightens up--except he was already standing up straight–

No… he’s _getting taller–_

“Holy fucking shit,” Keith gasps, falling fully backwards onto the bed.

Shiro, now easily a head taller than he was a moment ago, body wider, more muscular, and all over covered with white fur, eyes him. His sweatpants are a lot tighter-fitting now, and there is a fucking tail curving up and then down past the waistband. It’s wagging slowly. 

Keith can’t breathe.

“Keith.” And it’s deeper yeah, coming from a differently shaped mouth, but it still sounds like _Shiro._ If only because, “Love you, baby. So perfect. Perfect mate.”

Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Keith is not stupid and he’s _probably_ not out of his mind. All signs are pointing to this actually being Shiro. Which… god this is crazy but it can only mean--

“You’re a werewolf.”

Shiro nods happily. 

_“Really?”_

Shiro nods again. 

“Oh fuck,” Keith realizes. “They never were business trips, were they? They were all because of–” he gestures at Shiro’s general everything.

“Sorry,” Shiro says, ears--fucking _ears--_ drooping. “Wanted to tell you. Sorry, sorry. Love you, sorry.”

“You let me think you were going on business trips for two years?” 

Shiro’s massive shoulders hunch and his ears droop even more. “Mad?”

“Two years, Shiro!”

Shiro lets out a truly piteous whine and sinks to the floor, covering his face with his hands. “Didn’t want you scared. Didn’t want you to leave. Love you so much.”

Keith looks down at this giant _actual werewolf_ literally cowering at his feet and he doesn’t have it in him to be mad. Nor afraid anymore either. Because fuck, if _he_ had some sort of secret like this… yeah. 

Yeah, there’s no way he would ever have breathed a word. He’d have gone on “business trips” for the rest of his life, the guilt of the lie eating him raw the whole while.

“So sorry,” Shiro says, voice thick. “Love you so much, Keith. Please, so sorry, love you. Please. Not scared, not mad, please.”

Keith thinks Shiro might seriously be near tears. “Hey,” he says, trying to gentle his voice.

Shiro looks up at him, paws-- _hands_ \--moving away from his face. His eyes are indeed suspiciously wet. 

“It’s okay,” Keith says. “I’m not mad.”

“No?” Shiro asks hopefully.

Keith shakes his head. “Um. You just… startled me. I wasn’t, uh, expecting this.”

Shiro lets out another whine, head hanging low. “Sorry. Too good, too perfect for me.”

Keith has to swallow. Is--is this what Shiro really thinks? It must be; it doesn’t seem as though werewolf Shiro has any filters. “That’s not true. You’re amazing.”

Shiro’s expression changes back to desperately hopeful. “Keith?”

Keith takes a breath and shifts just enough to drop his knife to the floor. Then he awkwardly pats the messy bedspread. “You uh, you wanna come up here?”

Shiro’s tail starts to wag, a slow, steady motion. “Yes,” he breathes and then he’s surging forward.

Keith has to fight the urge to scramble backwards and it is utterly surreal to suddenly be so close to Literal Werewolf Shiro, but Shiro still doesn’t reach out to touch him. He perches on his knees, hands resting on his thighs as he looks at Keith like he hung the moon. His tail is still wagging.

Keith blinks down as Shiro’s fingers. His left hand is big and broad and furred, as might be expected, but even more bizarre is that his prosthetic hand almost matches. They’re definitely not human sized fingers anymore, at least.

“Magic,” Shiro says proudly, when he notices where Keith is looking.

Keith nods. Figures as much. 

Silence reigns.

“So, okay, uh…” Keith clears his throat. “Why now? What changed?” He’s pretty sure he’s going to have to grill human Shiro properly when this is all over, as werewolf Shiro isn’t the most eloquent, but if he can get even a few answers now, he wants them.

“My mate,” Shiro says. “Couldn’t stay away. Mine.”

Yeah, not eloquent. 

“Okay,” Keith tries. “But, um… we were also dating last full moon too, right?”

Shiro lifts a hand as if he’s about to reach out, but quickly slams it back down into his thigh. “Mate bond was new,” Shiro says, brow furrowing. “Pull less strong. But _missed_ you. Always miss you, Keith. So hard to stay away. Always so hard.”

He sounds so forlorn and so like _Shiro_ that Keith reaches out without thinking, setting his hand over Shiro’s much larger one. “It’s okay. It’s okay, Shiro. I’m here.”

The smile he gets in return for that is blinding. “Love you so much.”

“I-I love you too.” It’s overwhelming a little, how open Shiro is like this. Not that Shiro wasn’t free with his emotions before, but there really is no filter. None at all.

And Shiro loves him. 

“Perfect mate,” Shiro rumbles, tail wagging up a storm. “Perfect, beautiful mate. Love you.”

Keith's laugh is a little hysterical, but it's still a laugh. It’s so ridiculous. What is his life?

“Okay,” Keith says fondly. “Now what? I mean, you’re here. I’m here. Does that help?”

Shiro nods. He turns his hand over to cup Keith’s hand. Keith’s fingers look tiny in comparison. “More?” he asks, sounding hopeful.

Keith hesitates. “More what, big guy?”

Shiro’s face goes through a complicated set of expressions. Eventually he tugs lightly on Keith’s hand. Just once. “Cuddle. Sleep?”

“Oh.” Keith breathes out. “Okay, yeah.” It’s still _Shiro._ So he lets himself smile. “Yeah, we can do that.”

Shiro immediately tugs at him again, a silent request for Keith to move. He’s got a clear plan in mind, so Keith just sort of lets him do what he wants.

The end result is the comforter squashed up around them but only the thinner sheet and blanket over them, and Keith completely and utterly surrounded by a warm, massive body holding him, well, the way that Shiro holds him. Like he’s precious.

It all maybe chokes him up, a little. Shiro _loves_ him. He really, really does.

“Keith?” Shiro questions, sounding concerned.

Keith shakes his head, cheek brushing against Shiro’s fur. “Nothing. I love you.”

Shiro buries his face in Keith’s neck inhaling happily, which he has now done at least six times so far, ever since he got permission. “Love you. Love you, baby. Mine. So perfect and _mine._ Love you.”

“Yeah,” Keith says around a full, full heart. “G’night, okay? And we’ll talk more in the morning.”

“Okay,” Shiro mumbles. “Love you.”

There is going to be one hell of a conversation come morning, but for now, Keith’s okay with just closing his eyes and letting sleep take him. 

Of all the things that could go bump in the night, this is one he doesn't have to be afraid of.

**Author's Note:**

> how tempted am I to write a part 2? altogether too temped.
> 
> (hey... hey you should come say hi to me on [twitter.](https://twitter.com/justsayins))


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